Most folks know that ag subsidies artificially prop up prices for farm products here in the US and Western Europe. For some reason, we have a romantic notion of farmers as something more than just another profession and thus we prop up farms that would otherwise succumb, even though doing so hurts farmers in less-developed nations and makes us poorer. Think of it like, robbing Peter to pay Paul, while at the same time sticking it to Jose. And, since the time of FDR, that’s been all well and good.

Now, though, it has gone too far. As Jacob reports, biofuel subsidies are beginning to impact barley prices, as farmers switch from barley to corn, which means that beer prices may go up. In other words, fewer barley crops equals more expensive beer because barley is used to make malt, which, if you didn’t already know, is a critical ingredient of beer.